The good news is that the economy is officially over and the recovery has begun -- we're on our way back up -- slowly, to be sure, but it's moving in the right direction. The bad news is that many of the jobs that disappeared in the Great Recession aren't coming back -- they're gone for good.

While the outlook for our country is getting brighter, the outlook for hundreds of thousands of individuals still seems bleak. What can you do if you're one of those folks whose job -- and/or company -- is gone forever?

In every recession, there are some people who make lots of money. Make a commitment to be one of those people. As Winston Churchill wisely noted: "An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity." Which one are you?